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Why I Closed My Etsy Shop

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Since I was just a kid I’ve always had a very strong entrepreneurial spirit.I can’t even count on both hands my various schemes to make money before I was of legal age to work: like a true young capitalist I was hungry for my next dollar.I once made a deal with my parents that I would be paid 5 cents for every cigarette butt I picked up from their construction site (no shame in this game).

This ambitious character followed me through college and beyond.I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing in 2011 when I heard about Etsy for the first time - within months my first shop was open for business and I was ready to cash in!As a fashion design student, my first shop was a way for me to sell the things I was sewing in my free time and make a little cash on the side: win/win.

Etsy was a different creature in those days - wide eyed and innocent.Being featured on the front page could send your shop into a viral frenzy: a veritable wealth of Etsy fame and fortune.There was a sense of community between customer and creator.Treasuries were a creative way to group your favorite complimentary products for others to explore and it all served as a great way to promote hand-made products within the Etsy community.

As time has passed, Etsy has implemented many changes: new layouts, new algorithms, custom website options, and the latest: “Etsy Payments”.Many of these changes have served to upset sellers in the Etsy community as with any forced changes on a social platform but in the end, people adapt and become accustomed to a new way of doing things.That is, until Etsy crossed a line last spring, force closing shops that did not comply with their new “Etsy Payments” interface.

“Etsy Payments” is a way for Etsy to run payments into a stand-alone account controlled by Etsy themselves.Many sellers prefer Paypal, as money from sales are directly deposited into the seller’s account, avoiding any third party handling their money and any wait time to transfer funds from one account to another.Many sellers rely on this automatic payment to pay for materials used for any commissioned products.

Etsy describes “Etsy Payments” as “a simplified way to receive payments" and states that "you can get paid daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Request additional deposits anytime.”However, my experience with the platform was much different.My account was automatically suspended when I did not opt into “Etsy Payments” in May.Once I connected a bank account to my shop, sales began depositing into my "Etsy Payments" account and I was not able to transfer those funds automatically.Last month, a rather large sale was tied up in that third-party account for two weeks -I was told I needed to add a credit card to my account in order to access those funds.My question is: WHY?Call me old fashioned but why does Etsy need every shred of my financial information to deposit money that is already mine?

Etsy’s new payment program will serve to increase their revenue by capitalizing on payment processing fees that Paypal would have charged on those sales. They have stated that they will be phasing out Paypal completely within the next few months.Apparently I’m not the only one who finds this upsetting.Etsy reportedly lost tens of thousands of sellers within a few days following this transition, not counting accounts that were suspended from non-compliance.

The most upsetting problem about Etsy taking full control over payments through their site is their lack of customer care - they don’t offer even a fraction of Paypal’s reliability and over-the-phone customer service. Currently the only way to reach out to Etsy’s customer service is through email which is notorious for going unanswered; a worrisome matter when finances are involved.

All of these issues (and more) have weighed on my soul for the last few weeks and I have decided to take matters into my own hands.My work is far too valuable to sit on a site where I have such little influence on how sales are made.It feels refreshing to have opened a shop on my own site that I have full financial and creative control over.I am now focusing my attention on my own marketplace where listings are free and no fees are collected based on my sales and earnings. Free at last...free at last...

5 comments
:

Thanks for sharing this post Dena. I'd heard through other creative friends that they haven't been happy on Etsy for some time, for lots of reasons. I'm guessing Etsy don't mind the smaller sellers losing out as they have so many big stores on there now where the goods aren't necessarily made by the sellers but are mass produced - which to me means it isnt at all supportive of the creative who originally made Etsy what so successful. Very sad. As I'm yet to work out how I'm going to make money from what I create, I'd love to know how your new store works out. Good luck! xx

Thanks for your thoughtful comment, Vicki! I've also been pretty disappointed in Etsy's inaction regarding mass-market items. I've seen some great shops taken down because they have not met Etsy's imaginary standards for "handmade" and other shops on Etsy that sell the same mass-market items found on Alibaba without any problems. There are plenty of other sites out there now. I think Etsy used to be a great place to get started but too many factors have changed since the good ol' days. I wish you luck!

How crappy that your own money got held up! :( You're so incredibly talented that you'll end up with so much traffic and people buying from your site anyways. Remember that word or mouth is the best marketing and to let people know about it at events, babe. :) Miss you, beautiful!